The Daycare
by Orpah
Summary: Because Arthur can't look after them during the summer, Matthew and Alfred are put into a daycare. What adventures will they have?
1. Chapter 1

I was just having fun one day, and I came up with this idea! I hope you enjoy it bunches!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Arthur drove slowly up the driveway, coming to a halt shortly before the building, which was very nondescript and drab, appearing to be a typical residence refitted for its new purpose. The silence in the car was deafening, and he glanced back irritably at the boys in the back seat. "You know, I'm doing this for your own good. I can't just leave you at home all day alone, heaven knows what you would get up to."

Alfred, the younger of the twins in the back seat, continued to glare daggers at Arthur silently. Matthew, the elder, was less up front about it, but the resentment was clear in his features. Arthur groaned, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car.

"Well, don't just sit there, we have to go in and finish your registration. Come on, let's go." Arthur got out of the car and went to the side, opening the car door. Matthew's resolve seemed to waiver for a second, before he looked resolutely ahead. Alfred turned his head to continue glaring. "Francis would never make us go,"he grumbled, just loud enough for Arthur to hear.

"Well, Francis isn't here, and before you say anything, let me remind you it's not my fault." Arthur retorted, tapping impatiently against the doorway. "Now, get out of this car. I need to go to work soon, I don't have time for your stubbornness."

Matthew was the first to surrender, as he reluctantly unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car. Alfred, seeing his support go, hastily and angrily unbuckled his seatbelt, letting it whip out and hit the window. Then he hopped out, jammed his hands into his pockets, and stomped over to Matthew and Arthur's side.

Arthur led the way to the door way of the building, until he saw the sign instructing him to use the side door. His brow raised, as he wondered what on earth was wrong with the front door, but he obediently trotted to the side, Matthew and Alfred following. He opened the door with a creak, gesturing for the twins to go in first. They did so, reluctantly.

Inside the small foyer, there were posters decorating the walls, informing the reader about which ages were important for developement and how many children were backed out over in a year. Arthur didn't give these posters any thought, instead marching over to the desk, where a woman wearing an ankh was sitting with a stack of folders.

"Hello, I'm Arthur Kirkland, and these are my sons, Alfred and Matthew. I registered over the phone." He handed the woman the papers for the boys, while they stood sullenly behind him. The woman nodded, taking the paperwork. "I'm Nefertiti. Ariadne and I watch the children. Would you like to see the rest of our childcare facility?"

"No, I'm afraid I really don't have time; I have to be at work in a little bit. But I'm sure it's lovely," Arthur said hurriedly, turning back to Alfred and Matthew. He leaned down to their level, giving them a very serious look. "Now, I'm going to be gone for a while, but I expect you to be on your best behavior, understand?"

"Yeah, we get it," Alfred grumbled, and Matthew nodded. Arthur leaned forward to give Alfred a hug goodbye, but Alfred jerked back out of his reach. "I don't want a hug from _you_!"

Arthur looked hurt, but he backed off, standing up again, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Well, then, I guess I'll see you later. Be good." And with that, he turned and left them with Nefertiti, who stood up from behind the desk.

"Come this way please, children," She said softly, opening another door, which was decorated with a kitten poster. Matthew and Alfred followed, with the younger grabbing the elder's hand. As they walked into the room, which was overflowing with sound and color, they noticed there were an awful lot of children here.

In one corner, a pair of lookalikes painted on large pieces of coloring paper. And by a little table, a little girl played with stuffed animals, pretending they were talking to each other. She also had a plastic gun tucked into her pocket.

There was a small group of Asian children, one of whom was screaming about heaven knew what, hugging a more serious looking child from behind. Another little girl was holding onto a little boy who seemed to be paying no attention to her prattling, and there was something strangely familiar about his large eyebrows.

A copper-skinned child lay on top of another, and both were napping. The larger one had his fingers in the other's short hair. The smaller one's eye opened lazily as Matthew and Alfred walked onto the scene.

Lastly, there was a light-haired child clutching a stuffed puffin, and a pair of children, one of whom had glasses and was reading a book, and the other who seemed to be dozing against the bespectacled child. And the other woman, Ariadne, sat next to the child with the puffin, trying to interest him in the playdough. Alfred took in the scene with the usual trepidation a child will have when facing unfamiliar peers.

"Ariadne, these are the last children that registered; we can start on group activities now." Ariadne stood up, smiling at Alfred and Matthew. "Well hello! I'm Ariadne; who are you beautiful children?"

Alfred spoke up, still clutching Matthew's hand. "I'm Alfred, an' this's Matthew. We're twins." Because it was something he felt needed to be cleared up. People always asked anyway, so he might as well tell Ariadne. The woman smiled sweetly, patting Matthew on the head. "You can talk, can't you?"

"Yeah..." Matthew turned his face away bashfully, and Alfred immediately tried to take Ariadne's attention away from his shy twin. "Hey, do you have any kids?

Ariadne smiled, gesturing towards the pair of sleeping kids. "The one on the bottom is mine, and his name is Heracles. The one on top of him is Gupta, and he's Nefertiti's. I'm sure you'll get along very well. Now, come on everyone, it's time for a group activity!"

The children crowded around Ariadne, and Matthew scooted closer to Alfred relfexively. "Okay, it's activity time! Everyone gather round the table!" As the kids scrambled to get their favorite seats, Ariadne tried to make some order out of the madness.

"Yong Soo, let go of Kiku and sit in your own seat! Heidi, leave the animals at the table! Hong, Xue, you can't sit so close together! And Yong Soo, do I have to tell you again?" The children were directed, and Alfred and Matthew ended up in seats next to each other. On Alfred's side, there was the boy with the puffin, and on Matthew's side, there was the little girl identified as Heidi.

And that was how it would begin.

/AN/ Well, I hope you like it so far! If there's enough interest, I'm going to make this a long story!


	2. Chapter 2

And thank you to my reviewers! I am delighted to present the second chapter for you!

Oh, and:

Tryggvi = Iceland

Xue = Taiwan

Hong = Hong Kong (how creative of me!)

Heidi = Liechtenstein

Also, the kids range in age from four to eight.

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

The children were crowded around the table, eagerly anticipating the activity for the day. Ariadne had a stack of papers in her hands, but instead of doing anything with them, she smiled at Alfred and Matthew. "Alright everyone, we have some newcomers. Why don't we go around and say our names, our ages, and our favorite ice cream flavor? I'll start. Hello, my name is Ariadne, and I'm 32. I like rocky road ice cream. There, now you're next, Ed."

The boy with the glasses cleared his throat importantly. "I'm Eduard, and I'm seven. I like vanilla." He prodded the little boy next to him, who shyly whispered, "'m Raivis an' 'm four." The child raised four fingers to make it clear. "I like chocolate."

"Very good, Raivis! Nice job looking him in the eye!" Ariadne praised Raivis, causing him to puff his chest out in pride. She looked over at the next child. "Heracles, honey, take your toes out of your mouth and introduce yourself."

Heracles did as he was told, and stared at Alfred and Matthew lazily. "'m Heracles, I'm six, and I like death by chocolate." He turned to look at the boy next to him, Gupta, and started speaking again. "An' this's Gupta, an-"

"Honey, let him speak for himself. We've been working on this," Ariadne said, and she gestured to Gupta. "Go on, it's your turn." Gupta stared at her blankly, and turned to look at Heracles, as if asking him to continue. Heracles, taking the hint, continued speaking, knowing his friend well enough to know that this plot by their mothers would not work. "He's five, and he likes mint chocolate chip."

Ariadne sighed a long suffering sigh, but let them continue. It appeared she was about ready to give up on Gupta ever talking. The child next to Gupta, who was wearing a flowery shirt and pink shorts, spoke up excitedly. "I'm Feli, and I love pasta! Oh, and I'm seven, and I love to paint, and I go to school at St. Damian's, and I love mint ice cream!"

Alfred raised his eyebrows. Feli certainly wasn't following the guidelines... but he seemed to be a pretty exciting person! The lookalike next to him, however, looked like a major grump...

Said grump had a few things to say. "I'm Lovino, and I'm seven. Ice cream is freaking dumb!" Alfred felt very strongly that he had to reply, shooting up from his seat and pointing furiously at Lovino. "It is not! You're wrong!"

"Shut up, idiot!" Lovino snapped back, hands slamming down on the table. As far as he was concerned, no one told him he was wrong! Ariadne was quick to cut in before this got truly nasty. "Boys! That is enough! Do you both want to go in the time-out corner?"

"No..." Both boys muttered, looking away from each other. Lovino grumbled under his breath, "But it's still freaking dumb..." Ariadne gave him a severe look, chiding him, "Lovino, what have I said about that sort of language in this daycare?"

"That I'm not sposta freaking use it," Lovino said, arms crossed and face cross. Feli turned his best puppydog eyes on his twin brother, pleading with him. "Lovi, please don't make Miss Ariadne upset... I hate it when people are upset!"

"Watch your mouth or I'll clean it out with soap, Lovino," Ariadne warned, and Alfred shuddered, glancing over at Matthew. The first time Alfred had cursed, though rather by accident, Arthur had cleaned his mouth out with soap. It had not been a pleasant experience, and much time had been spent plotting revenge and getting Francis to coddle him over it.

Alfred's mouth turned into an unhappy little pout as he remembered Francis. The silk shirts, the roses, the good food and a liberal amount of hugs - that was Francis. He'd have snacks ready for both of them after school, he was always insisting on frilly, almost girly pajamas for them, and he could never keep his hands off of Arthur. Arthur had always yelled about not doing it in front of them.

Maybe that was why Francis had left. Alfred didn't like it when Arthur yelled at him, so it stood to reason that Francis wouldn't like it either. Or maybe it had been how Arthur always insisted on cooking every other day. Both of the boys enjoyed Arthur's food well enough, but Francis had hated it. Honestly, he didn't know for sure why he had left, but Alfred had always known that it was Arthur's fault.

"I'm Yong Soo, and I'm six! I love green tea ice cream, because that's what my big brother likes!" Alfred was jerked out of his thoughts by the exuberant child from before making this announcement. He blinked, staring at the child, who seemed more than tall enough to be eight, like him and Matthew. Who knew such a young kid could be that tall?

The next boy, however, was not quite so tall, and he wore a rather preppy-looking polo shirt and slacks. "My name is Kiku Honda, I am eight, and I like cookies and cream ice cream." He had nothing more to say, apparently, so the child next to him spoke up solemnly. "I'm Hong. I'm five, and I like strawberry ice cream."

"I like strawberry ice cream too!" The little girl in pink next to him announced excitedly. "And I'm Xue and I'm four!" The girl was wearing a pink cargo skirt, a pink t-shirt with ruffles, and a flower barrette in her hair, which she was toying with at the moment.

"I'm Tryggvi, and I'm cold." The little boy with the very light blonde hair next to Alfred sniffled, as though he'd been suffering for some time. Which was surprising, considering how he was wearing a sweater with a set of overalls. Ariadne sighed, letting her palms rest against each other. "You can go get your jacket, honey." And Tryggvi hurried to do just that.

Alfred didn't let nervousness get to him, boldly shouting, "I'm Alfred, and I'm eight! I like superman ice cream!" There was a snort from Lovino. "It doesn't actually exist!" Alfred glared back, leaning forward and trying to intimidate Lovino. "You wanna say that to my face?"

"Enough, boys! I told you, no fighting!" Ariadne seemed a little less patient than she had been with some of the other children. Alfred glowered, but backed down, sitting back in his seat. Tryggvi returned with his jacket then, settling down next to Alfred cluelessly. "I'm five, and I like ice cream." Ariadne did not press him for a flavor, instead looking to Matthew. "It's your turn, honey."

"I'm Matthew, and I'm eight. I like moose tracks..." Matthew said shyly, clutching his stuffed bear. The girl next to him latched onto him, causing him to jump with surprise. "I'm Heidi, I'm four. You're so cute~" Matthew looked helplessly at Alfred, but Alfred was too busy laughing to come to his brother's aide.

Ariadne clapped her hands together. "Okay, that's everyone! Who wants to play some picture bingo now?" The children cheered, so Alfred presumed it was a good thing. He'd never played bingo before, though...

/AN/ Wow, this is moving more slowly than I expected... I hope you enjoyed the chapter! There should be a little more action next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

And here's the third chapter!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Picture bingo had been fun, with Heracles winning in the end. Not that it caused any hard feelings, fortunately, since there was a bigger issue at stake: Heidi was still hanging off of Matthew like a leech. A cute leech, but a leech nonetheless.

Now, it wasn't Matthew that was having a problem with this. He may have been a little awkward, but like any child, he liked attention. No, it was someone else, someone who supposed they had a better claim to Heidi's attentions than some newcomer.

"Hey, Matthew," Tryggvi greeted Matthew, who was reading a book out loud to Heidi. Matthew looked up, a little surprised but nonplussed. "Hi. You're Tryggvi, right?"

A nod of the head in the affirmative from the boy. "Yeah. Heidi's my girlfriend, so stop talking to her." Tryggvi's bluntness was rather surprising, and Matthew was stunned for a couple seconds, before finding a reply. "She's the one who wants to hang around me, I didn't ask her to."

Heidi, rather than helping to solve the problem, cuddled closer against Matthew. Tryggvi's face was dark, as he threatened Matthew, "I'll hit you if you don't get away from my girlfriend!"

Matthew held up the book defensively, as though certain that Tryggvi would indeed carry out the threat. "Don't you dare, I'll tell on you!" This caused Tryggvi to pause. He may have been only five, but he knew that there were consequences to actions. Like Ariadne putting him in the corner for forever (she claimed it was only fifteen minutes, but everyone knew it was longer), or his older brother, Aksel, smacking his hand or putting him to bed early.

"Heidi, come on, don't talk to Matthew." Tryggvi tugged Heidi off of Matthew, and she followed him amiably, waving goodbye to Matthew as though her 'boyfriend' weren't dragging her off like a prized horse. Matthew watched her go with disappointment. He had liked hanging out with her, because she made him feel like a big brother. It wasn't a feeling he got often, with Alfred being so self-sufficient.

Speaking of Alfred, the younger twin was approaching the other eight-year-old, Kiku, who was reading a large book. Alfred leaned over the top of the book, smiling his best charming smile (Francis had once said that his best feature was his smile), and he said, "Hi Kiku. Do you wanna do something?"

Kiku turned the next page in his book, squirming a little from the closeness. "No, I'm fine. But thank you." And the Asian child tried to get back to his peaceful reading. But of course, Alfred simply wouldn't let well enough alone.

He pulled down the book, trying to keep Kiku's attention. "Hey, we could play a fun game." Because it never took much to get people to play with him normally. Francis had told him that was his charisma, and it was a very good talent. So he was very sure he could win over the quiet boy.

"No. I said I'm fine, but thank you." Kiku's eyebrow twitched a little as he talked, but there was no other sign of annoyance or rejection. Which, naturally, might as well have been a green light for Alfred, who was not that great at reading people.

"You know," he said, keeping a hand holding Kiku's book down, "We could always get the other kids to play red rover, or hide and seek." Kiku stared blankly at Alfred, as if trying to determine what the appropriate action was in this situation. He really didn't want to make Alfred upset with him, but he really didn't want to play right now. What was he supposed to do?

"I said I'm fine. Please go away." It was a little blunter than he would have liked to be, but some people just needed you to be a little blunt, to get through their thick skulls. Alfred blinked, momentarily taken aback, but he was back to grinning in an instant.

"C'mon, it'll be really fun, you'll like it... Besides, why would you want to sit all by yourself?" As far as Alfred was concerned, he was essentially performing a rescue mission. This poor kid must not have any friends with that attitude, he'd concluded, and therefore didn't know how to respond to him.

Kiku, having had enough, yanked his book out from under Alfred's hand, snapping "I said I'm fine! Do you not understand or do you just not even care? Leave me alone!" And he stood up, leaving and going to another chair to sit down and read. Alfed was stunned. The kid really hadn't wanted to play. What on earth was wrong with him?

He should really help him play more, because reading by yourself had to be lonely. The poor kid didn't even realize he had a problem. It was so fortunate he had Alfred looking out for him. But maybe for now, he would leave him alone and let him calm down.

Matthew, meanwhile, had already gotten to know some of the other children, and he was engaged in a game of duck duck goose. Xue was going around the circle, tapping the other children on the head and mumbling, "Duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck-"

"Just say goose already, Xue! You're taking forever!" Yong Soo complained, throwing his arms up dramatically. Raivis, being four, looked near ready to revolt if this took any longer. Xue, however, stuck up her little nose and said haughtily, "I can say goose whenever I want to, I'm the duck-duck-gooser."

"But maybe you should do it soon..." Matthew suggested, hoping suggesting instead of demanding would work. Xue pursed her lips, stopping at Gupta with her hand poised over his head. "I'm the duck-duck-gooser, don't tell me whatta do!"

The other children didn't say anything more as she continued around the circle, as if they were resigned to their fates. Soon, however, she slowed, biting her lower lip and looking like she was positively going to burst with excitement.

"Goose!" she screamed, slapping Matthew on the head. He yelped, giving her enough time to get a decent head start, before jumping to his feet and dashing after her. "Not fair!" he said, as she plopped down in his seat.

She giggled like a madman, and poked Heracles awake next her. Matthew stuck out his bottom lip. He hadn't wanted to be the duck-duck-gooser...

/AN/ Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had some fun writing it. My siblings and I used to play duck duck goose a lot.


	4. Chapter 4

Well... I was kind of stunned by the lack of reviews. Did I do that badly with the chapter? Because if this story is turning sour, I'd really appreciate being told so. I'd rather be told I'm doing something stupid than just keep doing it thinking I'm doing okay.

I don't own Hetalia! /AN/

"All right, snack time, children!" Nefertiti was taking her turn with the children, allowing Ariadne a short break. And it was a good thing too, because the brunette was a little tired, as she typically was at this time of day. Nefertiti grabbed a tray of gold fish in cups, along with a bottle of apple juice and more cups.

The children clustered around the table excitedly, each one eagerly reaching for their share of the snacks. "I want some!" "Give me mine!" "I'm hungry!"

"Now come on, calm down and get in your seats!" Nefertiti said, flicking back her hair. She wore an astonishing amount of jewelry for a daycare provider, with many bracelets, necklaces and a pair of stud earrings. One would think she would worry about being strangled by a child grabbing hold of her necklaces, but it would appear she had no qualms about it.

"Everyone gets one cup of gold fish, and one cup of juice," she explained, handing out the cups one by one into the greedy little hands outstretched for them. Heidi, who was sitting next to Matthew, promptly tried to feed him, shoving gold fish against his lips. Matthew, bewildered, let the goldfish in, but didn't chew them.

Tryggvi glared in pure jealousy, little arms crossed in imitation of his big brother. You wouldn't guess it, from Tryggvi's calm exterior, but the boy had a temper, and so now he threw gold fish one by one across the table at Matthew, who blinked in surprise when one hit him on the nose.

Alfred stuffed his mouth, having gotten fairly hungry over the course of the morning. He slurped his apple juice down as soon as it was handed to him, mixing the flavors in his mouth. He looked over at Kiku, who was eating much more serenely, one gold fish at a time, and little sips from his cup. It made Alfred feel self-conscious, and he slowed down in his snacking.

Now. He wanted to get Kiku to notice him, which there were plenty of ways to do, but without thinking badly of him. Any acting out, he feared, would be looked on unfavourably by the quiet child. But, there was nothing he wanted to do more right now than keep his attention, and get him to play with him.

"Hey, Kiku," He said, trying to sound cool. The shorter child looked up, seemingly mildly displeased. "Yes?" Alfred tried one of his winning smiles, but it did nothing to warm up Kiku's cold face. "Oh, well, I know you didn't like me earlier today, but we should play a game after snacks!"

Kiku became very concentrated on his gold fish, face set in a minorly polite mask. "I will think about it." Alfred's face brightened. He had no way of knowing that this was Kiku's way of saying no, having not known Kiku very long. "Really? Awesome! Maybe we could play hide and seek, or we could play freeze dance with all the other kids! I really have a lot of ideas! We'll have a lot of fun!"

Matthew, meanwhile, got hit in the eye by one of Tryggvi's crackers, and began to cry. Heidi started kissing him on the cheek, both her arms thrown around his neck. "It's okay Mattie, no crying... I'm the big mama, and I'll take care of you."

Nefertiti gave Tryggvi a look. "If you don't like something Matthew's doing, you talk to him! We do not throw food at each other! Into the timeout corner!" And Tryggvi went, shoulders up around his ears and head bent down. For there was no greater humiliation than to have to go in the corner, and a couple of the kids giggling was certainly no help to his ego. He hunched over on the chair as soon as he got there, and wrapped his arms around his knees, glaring balefully at Matthew and Nefertiti intermittently.

Xue threw her arms around Kiku then, distracting him from his mature posture. "Xue, please get off of me." She whined back at him, fingers running through his hair and cheek brushing against his, "But I just want to love you!"

"Xue. Get off or I'll tell Yao." It was not enough to dissuade the tiny girl, however, and she continued to hang off of him. He sighed in frustration. It was about then that Alfred got an idea.

"I'll get her off!" Alfred cried out manfully, grabbing on to the girl's pig-tailed hair and pulling with all his might, as though it were some massive beast affronting Kiku and not just a zealous little sister. A piercing cry rent the air, and Xue fell backwards off of Kiku. Kiku was watching in silent horror, wondering where on earth Alfred had gotten the idea to do something like that.

Yong Soo did not take it well. As Xue lay on the floor sobbing, he marched over, shoving Alfred with all his might. "You can't hurt my little sister, you big fat idiot!" And Alfred got up and pushed back, feeling the anger undeserved. He'd just been helping Kiku get rid of a pesky sister, that was all! It's not like he really hurt her.

Nefertiti stepped in before further violence could occur. "Boys! Stop! Alfred, I'm ashamed of you! I'm sure you know better than to hurt a little girl! And Yong Soo, you know we do not push people! Both of you are going into the corner!"

Yong Soo had seen this coming, and smirked. "Tryggvi's in the corner, so we can't be in it too." Nefertiti, however, had a plan precisely for this sort of scenario. She grabbed each of the boys by their shoulders, and marched over to one of the unused corners in the room.

She pushed aside some toys, and then pointed to the corner. "Yong Soo, get in that corner, and stay there until I say you can leave." Yong Soo glumly complied, face pulled into an angry pout at Nefertiti overcoming the obstacle of the corner being filled already.

Nefertiti marched Alfred over to the next corner, and moved a toy bin. "You stay here. And no playing with the toys, because I will see you and I will take them away." Alfred glanced back at Kiku before he turned into the corner, and was shocked to see Kiku giving him a mild glare, Xue held in his arms. So maybe that really hadn't been the brightest idea, Alfred reasoned, as he turned his face into the corner.

/AN/ My mom used to put us in the corner all the time. We always had to kneel and push our faces in as far as they would go. It kinda stunk, but now I'm pretty grateful my mom bothered to discipline me.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews! They really motivate me, and I appreciate them a lot! And I'm very glad to hear I haven't ruined this story yet!

Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

When Tryggvi, Alfred and Yong Soo were finally allowed out of the corner, the children were grouped together around Ariadne, who was reading them a story. All three boys were ushered towards the circle by Nefertiti silently, and Alfred sat next to Matthew, while Yong Soo sat with Xue, Hong and Kiku, and Tryggvi sat jealously next to Heidi, who was clinging to Matthew's arm.

"Sit with me, Heidi," Tryggvi hissed, pulling on her sleeve. She whined squeakily, pushing her face into Matthew's arm. "Nno! I'm staying with Mattew!" Matthew, having grown somewhat attached to Heidi, gave Tryggvi a stern look. "She can do whatever she wants, so stop bugging her."

"But she's my girlfriend!" Tryggvi loudly whispered back, eyes starting to sprout angry tears. Ariadne gave him a severe look, taking her eyes off the book. "Tryggvi, honey, please be quiet or you won't hear the story." Tryggvi gave an angry huff, but became quiet, occasionally giving Matthew dirty looks as Ariadne continued on.

Meanwhile, Alfred was inching closer to Kiku, and the other boy was inching away just as subtly. This would have worked for some time had it not been for the fact that Kiku was sitting next to his siblings, and only had so much room to scoot. As soon as he bumped into Yong Soo, Kiku knew he was trapped.

"Alfred, what are you doing?" he asked, suppressing a groan. Alfred, oblivious as ever, gave him a smile, then exchanged that face for an apologetic one. "I'm sorry I hurt your sister. I was just trying to get her off of you." Kiku was astonished by how big and sad Alfred's eyes could get. He shook his head, murmuring, "She's fine now. Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to come over to my house after daycare!" Alfred was all smiles again, relieved that he hadn't seemed to have offended Kiku. Kiku pursed his lips, perturbed by the excitable boy's perseverance. He didn't want to say no, and make Alfred get upset, but he certainly didn't want to go over to his house. He turned away, not facing Alfred. "I'll think about it."

Alfred took it as a yes, and beamed. "We're going to have a lot of fun, I have lots of guns and I have two lightsabers, so we can battle! It'll be so cool, and we can play on my wii, cause I have lots of games! And Matt can play too if you really want him to-"

Kiku exasperatedly put a hand over Alfred's mouth. Honestly, it was amazing Ariadne hadn't noticed he was talking during reading time yet. "Sh, do you want to get in trouble? Wait until after storytime." Never mind that he'd never said he'd come over, if Ariadne saw them talking, they would both sit in the corner. Which he had never had to do, in the two years he'd been coming here. He was just well-behaved that way, which was a point of pride for his elder brother, even if he always wanted to him to loosen up.

At that moment, Alfred's goofy grin was reminding him of his big brother, and his somtimes embarassing cheerful personality. It made him scowl just the slightest bit. Why did this underintelligent boy keep bothering him anyway?

"Please stop smiling," Kiku murmured, turning away from Alfred. Alfred tried to keep from smiling, if only to make his new friend happy, but every time he got his mouth closed, it started to split open again in a grin. He just couldn't help it, he was so overjoyed at the prospect of bring home a new friend.

It was not as though he'd never had friends before. On the contrary, he had lots of friends- but he only really saw them at school, and since it was summer, they were all in summer camps and he couldn't see them. It was all for the same reason he was here, of course, but the point was, he was eager to befriend someone to spend time with who wasn't his twin brother.

Kiku rolled his eyes discreetly in disgust at the continued smiling, but said nothing. They sat in silence as Ariadne finished off the book. "And then, Mary Sue was reunited with her prince, and they both lived in the beautiful golden palace off the lake. They lived happily ever after, the end."

Raivis immediately began clapping, taking his slimy fingers out of his mouth. He had been one of the few paying close attention to the story, and now was overjoyed with the conclusion. Eduard looked up from his own book, entitled "Genetics for Kids." Gupta was awake, but Heracles was not, and he sprawled on the floor contentedly.

Ariadne reached down and ruffled Raivis' hair, smiling at him. "Glad to see someone was paying attention," she said pointedly, looking around at the ones who had talked. Then she settled back on Raivis. "So, what was your favorite part of the book, honey?"

Raivis got wide eyes, and jammed his fingers back in his mouth shyly. Ariadne laughed, and stood to put away the book. "Now," she announced, "I expect you all to play nicely now. We're going to go outside, okay? No shoving, running or hitting, everyone got it?" She got a murmur in the affirmative.

"Well, alright then. Let's go!" And she walked over to the sliding door, opening it and gesturing towards the fenced-in backyard. The kids went out the door at varying speeds, with varying desires to deal with the great outdoors today.

The backyard was not very large, and was crowded with plastic play sets - a plastic cottage, a small plastic slide, a plastic jungle gym and so on. The grass was thin, presumably from many little feet trampling over it, as well as the great tree overhead blocking the sun from it.

Heidi pulled Matthew along and into the plastic cottage. "Come on, we'll play in the tottage and I'll be the mommy and you'll be the daddy!" Matthew beamed at the honor bestowed upon him. "Okay!"

Alfred climed up to the top of the jungle gym rather easily, and sat at the top. He was joined by Gupta and Heracles, who took up comfortable positions on the plastic floor. "Hey Alfred," Heracles said, waving at him and then putting his hands behind his head as he lay back.

Alfred smiled back. "Hey!" He lounged against the plastic wall, before a thought came to him. "Hey, how come he can't talk?" Gupta stared at the finger pointed at him, while Heracles blinked lazily. "Oh, he can talk. He just doesn't like to."

"Why not?" Alfred was interested now, turning all the way around to face them. Heracles stretched, yawning. "Oh, I don't know. He just doesn't like to do it." Gupta nodded, leaving his feet hanging over the side of the jungle gym. Alfred was puzzled. If Gupta could talk, why on earth hadn't Heracles found out why he wouldn't talk? That's what Alfred would ask Gupta, if Gupta would talk to him.

"Haven't you asked him?" Alfred asked, confusion clear on his features. Heracles shook his head. "I don't really care. If he doesn't wanna talk, he doesn't havta talk."

Alfred reflected on this principle, wondering if it would work with Arthur...

/AN/ Well, I'm sorry this took a little longer than my other chapters, I actually have been updating this story much faster than I've updated any story. Schoolwork and all... And yeah, Alfred totally has a friend-crush on Kiku...


	6. Chapter 6

And this is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it, and wish my sister luck with all her schoolwork! She has a lot of it to do...

And do you know who I pretty much forgot? Lovino and Feliciano! Which stinks, cause I had some good ideas for them... So here they are, in this next chapter!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

"Let's play tag!" Yong Soo practically screamed, throwing out his floppy sleeves in excitement. Xue quickly squealed, "Not it!" and it was followed by a chorus of the same from the other children, and soon there was no way of knowing who had to be it.

Fortunately, Kiku knew exactly what to do. "Nose goes!" he shouted, and all fingers flew up to button noses, with only Matthew not following suit. He looked around, confused. "Huh?" He and Alfred were not familiar with 'nose goes', though Alfred seemed to have caught on, digit firmly pressed on his nose. Knowing looks passed around the group, and Yong Soo grinned, looking practically pleased with Matthew's lack of knowledge.

"You're it, Matthew! Everybody run!" And the group dispersed, kicking up small clouds of dust in the small, root covered yard as they ran to the far reaches of it. Matthew stared for a moment, mouth working and trying to make a protest of some kind, before accepting his fate and running after Heidi. "I'm gonna get you! Slow down!"

Heidi shrieked, delighted yet terrified of being caught. Her skirt swishing behind her as she ran, she turned and hurried around the plastic cottage, trying to catch Matthew off guard. The rest of the children tried to keep as much distance as they could between themselves and the it. Matthew dashed headlong after Heidi, laughing wildly as she continued to squeal and shriek.

Meanwhile, several of the kids crowded on the top of the jungle gym, seeing it as a safe haven from the sordid duty of being it. However, soon there was a complaint of there being no space. Naturally, this was bound to lead to some conflicts. "Watch it, Gupta! You're in my freaking space!" Lovino snapped, shoving the quiet youngster out of his 'space'.

Heracles, however, would have none of that, being buddies with Gupta, and he elbowed his way past Alfred to shove Lovino back, and grab Gupta before he fell off. "Don't pushim!" Lovino was incensed, his temper flaring, and he snarled back, "You freaking idiot, don't touch me! If you- If you touch me again, I'm going to freaking kill you! I'll kill you, Heracles!"

Now, it was not that Lovino had never done this before. The fact was, he did this often. He was rather infamous for his terrible temper. It was just that he certainly rarely butted heads with Heracles, the laid-back sleeper. Alfred, however, had no way of knowing this, and was utterly horrified.

Taking it all too seriously, he seized the front of the Lovino's shirt, yelling at him, "I won't let you kill anybody, cause I'm the hero! And heroes don't people die!" Lovino's eyes went the side of dish plates, and he scared the crap out of Alfred when he let loose a long cry, hands fruitlessly pulling at Alfred's hands.

"Lemme go! I didn't hurt nobody! Waaaah!" Very quickly, the situation morphed, from Lovino being the apparent aggressor to Alfred appearing to be the bully. Alfred let go of Lovino quickly, backing up and distancing himself from the wailing boy. He felt hands grab onto his arm gently, trying to move him out of the way. "Fratello! Don't cry, he's not going to hurt you!"

The distressed cry came from Feli, of course, and he reached out towards his twin. The wailing, however, had attracted Ariadne, and she came over, looking a little put out. "Hey guys, what's going on now? Come on, speak up now or forever hold your piece!"

"Alfred was bullying Lovi!" Feli said, pointing at Alfred accusingly. Alfred's eyes widened, and he held up his hands defensively. "I didn't hurt him!" Lovino's wails had quieted to sniffles, and now he crossed his arms vindictively. "Yeah, he was all in my face and stuff shouting about being a hero!"

Ariadne sighed, looking down at Alfred. "Honey, what did I just tell you about getting into fights?" Alfred was not one to lie down and give up, tried to get Ariadne to see the injustice of her statement. "But I wasn't fighting! Lovino started it, he was going to kill Heracles!"

Ariadne put her hands on her hips, giving Lovino a look. "Lovino, were you threatening people again?" Lovino's head ducked down, and he bit his lip. "Well, he shoved me... What the freaking heck was I supposed to do?"

"Language, Lovi." Ariadne turned back to Alfred putting hand on his shoulder. "Honey, Lovino sometimes says things he shouldn't, but he isn't trying to hurt anybody. You can't go bullying people because of what they say."

Then she turned to Lovino and Heracles. "Now, what's this about shoving people?" Heracles yawned, then spoke, eyelashes languidly blinking. "He pushed Gupta first."

A shriek of laughter distracted all involved in the hearing, and for a moment, all turned to see what had caused it. Matthew had tackled Heidi, and now they lay in a giggling heap, all skinny limbs and blonde hair. Then Heidi squirmed out from underneath him, and Matthew ran for his life from the head and a half shorter blonde girl.

Ariadne's attention snapped back to the kids in front of her. "Now, Lovino, why did you push Gupta?" Lovino looked down at the plastic floor, foot scuffing along it. He refused to answer, and Ariadne put her finger under his chin, forcing his head so he had to look at her. "Well, I'm waiting, Lovi."

"Cause he was in my space." Lovino twisted his head out from Ariadne's grip uncomfortably, frowning deeply and defiantly. Ariadne gave both boys a look. "Now, what have we talked about with shoving?" Heracles sighed softly. "Not to do it, mommy."

After a pressuring gaze from Ariadne, Lovino said with a groan, "I know, I know, okay? I'm not supposed to do it."

"And what are you both going to do from now on?" Ariadne said, her arms crossed. Both boys said, at the same time, "Not push people." The woman gave them both a nod, looking mildly pleased with herself. "Alright then, you can keep playing. Be good, all of you, and no more fighting."

"Yes, Ariadne," came the chorus, and she turned and headed back to her folding chair. Suddenly, Heidi ran up, and tapped Alfred on the thigh. "You're it, you're it!" she chirped, and then she ran.

/AN/ This chapter was a little difficult, but I'm not entirely sure why... Anyway, my poor sister has a sinus infection, so please wish her well! Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

I'm hoping I'm not losing your interest... I would like to take a vote, though. Would you like a lot of OC parents, or would you like them all to be canon characters? Cause I can pull it off either way, but I do like to know what you guys are thinking.

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

The game of tag had been fun, and now all the little bodies of the children were sticky with sweat. Heidi was lying with her head on Matthew's stomach, and pointing out the clouds, and what shapes they were. "That one looks like a hippo," she said, little finger pointed towards the sky, as if in a pathetic challenge.

"Yeah, and that one looks like an old man," Matthew murmured, petting Heidi's head gently. Heidi snuggled against him closer. "You're really soft," she said, and both were unaware of how that could be taken badly. Instead, they were stuck in their own little world, where even the air around them was sweet and calming.

Matthew wasn't sure how it had happened. At first, he had been fairly uncomfortable with Heidi, because he didn't know what to do with the four-year-old. But she had grown on him, and now he felt like he was her older brother, meant to look out for her and keep her happy. He'd never had a little sister before; the closest he'd ever had was a next-door neighbor girl who had moved away last summer.

She and him had been inseparable last summer. She went by Chelle, and if he had ever known her full name, he had forgotten it. She'd had long hair, dark and a little coarser than Heidi's, and she had been constantly in the sprinkler, as if she loved any excuse to wear her swimsuit. He and her had spent many hours speaking in their own secret language and excluding Alfred, who hadn't cared that much to begin. Alfred had always had his friends from baseball, after all, and he wasn't one for hanging around with girls.

Now, this felt almost the same as if he were back home with Chelle, and Matthew was enjoying the peaceful company of the younger girl. That peace, however, was soon to be broken. "Heidi, come play with me," came the petulant whine from Tryggvi, as his lower lip stuck out in frustration.

Heidi shook her head, rolling it back and forth on Matthew's stomach. "I like doing this better." In her four-year-old mind, it did not even occur to her to care about Tryggvi's feelings; it was beyond her to understand how upset he was. Matthew tried to be more delicate.

"Tryggvi, we were doing this first, you can't just come over and take Heidi away." Naturally, he was more articulate than Heidi, being four years older. He'd learned some about dealing with conflict, from having to keep people who were mad at Alfred from hurting him. They did look astonishingly alike, though Matthew couldn't see the similiarities.

"But I want to play! Heidi is my girlfriend, and we play together always!" Tryggvi was not that used to not getting his own way, being a little spoiled at home. Being the baby tended to do that to a child, as no one would want to see him cry. Matthew, however, did not see him as a baby who he didn't want to cry, and he groaned.

"Go play with somebody else, there are lots of other kids." Matthew said, not prepared to sit up and continue this argument. Heidi, however, did sit up, much to Matthew's disappointment. "Yeah, go play with somebody else! I'm playing with Matthew!"

"But that's not fair!" Tryggvi said, stamping his foot indignantly. It was his favorite new phrase, always spouted off when he couldn't get what he wanted. Matthew sat up, seeing that Tryggvi wasn't going to just go away. "Don't you have other friends?"

"Yes! But I don't want to play with them, they're boring!" Tryggvi insisted emphatically, arms spread out and then dropped down dramatically. Matthew was trying to think of a solution. Not a bad one, like hitting Tryggvi, like Alfred would do. Arthur had always said he was smart, and he was trying to be smart here. But Heidi had other ideas, fairly typical for children of her age.

"Run away from Tryggvi!" She squealed, seizing Matthew's arm and dragging him with her. Matthew was caught up in the excitement, and ran like the devil himself was behind them. Tryggvi screamed at them, "That's not fair! Stop that!" But he didn't follow, instead stomping his feet angrily and heading for Nefertiti.

Matthew and Heidi ducked behind a tree, giggling like crazy. There seemed to be nothing quite so exhilarating as running away from problems, and both were feeling pretty good. Matthew might have otherwise realised how maybe running away wasn't the best choice, but he wasn't in a thinking mood, he was in a doing mood, common for youngsters who do things they aren't supposed to.

They both watched as Tryggvi complained angrily to Nefertiti. Matthew's breath caught. Would they get in trouble? Would Nefertiti make them sit in the corner while everyone else got to play? But even as his mind was recoiling from the idea, Nefertiti patted Tryggvi on the head, took his hand, and lead him towards Gupta and Heracles, who were playing in the sand box.

Matthew let his breath out, sighing in relief. Now he and Heidi could have fun without Tryggvi bothering them. "Hey, Heidi, what do you wanna do?" he asked, not having an activity in particular at the forefront of his mind. Heidi's eyes sparkled. "Let's play princess and hero! My brother and me play that all the time!"

"Okay, how do you play?" Matthew said gamely, excited at the prospect of a new game. Heidi pointed at the jungle gym. "I'll be the princess, and that's my tower. You have to do what I tell you so you can rescue me!" And she ran towards the plastic structure, climbing on top.

"Go fight the dragon!" she demanded, and Matthew picked up a stick. This seemed like it would be a really fun game...

/AN/ Wow, I swear I've never updated so fast... And with only one review. Was my last chapter bad? Because if it was, I need you guys to tell me cause then I can rewrite it! Oh, and if anyone has any fun things they want to happen, do suggest them! I love incorporating people's ideas into my stories!


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for the reviews, they make me very happy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

It was lunchtime, and the children were eagerly clamoring for their lunch bags. All of the children had to bring their own lunches, because, as Ariadne put it, "we're not made of money." The only the children who didn't have to, of course, were Gupta and Heracles, being the owners' children.

"All right, everyone can go get their lunches," Nefertiti said, heading back to the kitchen (which was closed off to the other room with a door that was split in half, the top and bottom opening and closing independently of each other) to get the lunches for herself, Ariadne, and their kids.

There was delight throughout the room as the children got their lunches, eager to see what they had been packed. In Lovino and Feliciano's bags, there was pasta, along with a tomato sauce and cheese. For Heidi, colorful crackers and grapes, along with a napkin picture of her family in bunny form.

For the Asian children, there were identical packs of Lunchables, clearly the only thing their poor parent could put together in time for them to go to daycare. Tryggvi had salted fish, which smelled fairly bad, along with bread. Raivis and Eduard had borscht, packed in plastic containers.

Alfred and Matthew had sandwiches, for which they thanked the high heaven. Arthur's cooking may not have bothered them as much as it bothered Francis, but it could be said they hadn't quite developed the taste for it yet.

The eating was done as quietly as could be expected, and all the children chattered to each other, frequently when their mouths were full. Even Gupta quietly confided various opinions about his food to Heracles, who was trading his M&Ms for crackers from Kiku's lunch. Alfred watched jealously as Kiku talked freely to Heracles, who murmured in reply to the boys on either side of him.

Matthew dug into his sandwich, savoring the salami and swiss cheese. He was distracted from his lunch, however, by Heidi trying to feed him hers again. "Here, Matthew, just open your mouth," she said sweetly, pushing a green cracker against his lips. Matthew obliged her, opening his mouth and letting the cracker be put in.

Then he decided to return the favor, offering her a bite of his sandwich. "You can have some, it's really good, even though Arthur isn't good at cooking," he murmured, holding the sandwich in front of her. She smiled, leaning forward and taking as big a bite as possible. She couldn't even keep her mouth closed to chew it, yet somehow Matthew found it endearing.

"Don't take such big bites, Heidi," he gently reprimanded, shuddering slightly as he remembered the last time he'd seen someone choke. It had been Alfred, of course, the rash child that he was, trying to eat his hot dog as quickly as he could. Neither he nor Arthur had been aware of what was going on until Alfred started flailing desperately, and Matthew had panicked. But Arthur had known what to do, and without even cursing, had jumped into action. He'd stood behind Alfred and slammed his fist into Alfred's gut until he coughed up the hot dog and started breathing again. It had been traumatic, to say the least.

Heidi, of course, had no knowledge of the horror of choking, and she just smiled. "My brother says I can take big bites, and he loves me a lot."

Matthew sighed, feeling he had to give in now, if he was being compared to Heidi's brother. "Okay, but just chew slowly." Normally, he would not be so worried about people, and he'd just let them do what they pleased, but he felt so much like Heidi's older brother he did not want to risk anything with her.

Meanwhile, Alfred wolfed down his sandwich, not having learned much from nearly choking to death, and sauntered over as casually as he could over to where Kiku was sitting. "Hi, do you still want to come over to my house? Cause we could watch a movie, y'know."

Kiku heaved a long-suffering sigh. How dense was this Alfred? How could he not figure out that Kiku had no desire to hang around him, much less go to his house and be stuck with him there? Maybe it was that he hadn't been straightforward with him, which was something he hated to do. He took a breath, turning towards Alfred.

Then his courage faltered, and instead of telling Alfred that he didn't want to be around him, he said, "I don't think Yao would want me to go over to your house. We're kind of busy this evening, and he needs me to help him."

Alfred blinked, momentarily stumped. How could this happen? He wanted, more than anything, for this kid to come over to his house, and naturally, something had come up. Maybe there was a way around it. "Hey, Arthur will be here to pick me up; he can ask your father if you can come over!"

Kiku froze. Yao would surely agree, he was always looking to get Kiku more involved with other children. He just couldn't understand that Kiku didn't like most other kids; in fact, the only non-family members he hung out with at daycare were Heracles and Gupta. The other kids were just too noisy and disturbing. He didn't even like hanging around his siblings most of the time, and he refused to recognise that they were related.

"I- I don't think that's a good idea; Yao is really mean, he'll probably hurt your...Arthur..." Kiku insisted, and Heracles raised an eyebrow. He had met Kiku's father, and he certainly had seemed harmless. Of course, he wasn't about to mention Kiku's error.

"Oh, it's okay, my dad can hit things really hard! One time, when he was drunk, he made a hole in the wall!" Alfred said gleefully, seeing his problems disappearing. It really was a good thing Arthur was so tough, or else Kiku might have never come over!

Kiku slumped in his seat, seeing no way out. Would he be cursed with no buffer between himself and Alfred for the late afternoon and evening of that day?

/AN/ Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had fun writing it, and I've got a total high off updating so fast! Anywho, Glee is cool, and I recommend it to all of you!


	9. Chapter 9

Again, thanks so much for the reviews, they make me very excited! I have a horrible cold, so I'm just a little wonky right now...

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

It was after lunch, and the kids were free to play once again. Heracles and Kiku were leaning on each other while Kiku read and Heracles dozed. Alfred watched jealously for some time, completely unnoticed. How come Heracles could cozy up to Kiku so easily? Alfred had been trying all day, and he hadn't gotten so much as a smile in his direction. It wasn't fair.

Alfred hands curled into fists, but the boy short in self control normally reigned in the murderous urges. He couldn't go hurt Heracles because then Kiku would think badly of him, this much he realised. Heracles was Kiku's friend, and if Alfred would not want his friends to be hurt, then Kiku must be the same.

Because Alfred wasn't stupid. He wasn't quite as dense as he seemed, with the way he tried to ignore the negative feeling rolling off of Kiku. He had hoped, honestly, that if he acted like something was true, it would become true. Arthur had always told him that his willpower could accomplish great things, and what would be better than being friends with Kiku?

But Kiku would probably like to be left alone, Alfred had realised miserably. And so, now he was going to turn his attention to someone else. Maybe, if he was lucky, Kiku would miss the attention he'd previously recieved, and he'd seek Alfred out.

Alfred approached Raivis, who was kneeling and 'reading' a picture book. He had his fingers shoved into his mouth, as he seemed prone to do, sucking absently as his eyes scanned the pages, and Alfred couldn't help but wonder why four-year-olds were so dumb.

"Hey Raivis, member me? I'm Alfred. Do you wanna play?" Alfred introduced himself cheerily, squatting down to be at Raivis' level. The littler boy looked up at him in surprise, popping his fingers out of his mouth. "But I was reading my books. I love to read books cause I'm better at it."

"Yeah, that's great, but how bout we play my game now?" Alfred was slightly impatient with him, but not enough to be considered mean. Raivis blinked, then closed his book. "Okay."

Alfred grinned, taking Raivis' non-slimey hand. "Okay, come on then. I'll show you a really fun game."

Meanwhile, Matthew was reading a book to Heidi. She was curled against him, and Matthew felt pretty darn important. "Would you eat eggs with a goat?" Heidi giggled at the idea of eating with a goat. "That's silly!" she exclaimed, snuggling closer to Matthew.

"Yeah, it is," Matthew agreed, turning to the next page. On this page, there was a colorful illustration of a sheep and two funny-looking characters with eggs and ham. Heidi pointed to one of the characters, then the other. "That's you, and that's me!"

"Okay! But sh, here's the next part," Matthew said patiently, leaning his head against Heidi's. And he would have continued, happy as he was with the situation. However, there was an interruption: a whine of, "Heidi, play with me!"

"Tryggvi..."Matthew groaned, wondering how on earth they had not shaken the determined young boy. Surely, he would have gotten the hint by now, or perhaps moved on to other friends. Did Tryggvi even have other friends? It would seem as though he did not, or else didn't like his other friends.

"Go way, Tryggvi." Heidi's command was simple and to the point. Tryggvi's face crumpled into an angry pout. "No, no! You were my friend first!" His eyes were sprouting tears, and his fists were clenched. Matthew heaved an annoyed sigh.

"Tryggvi, Heidi doesn't like you anymore. So just go away," he said, turning his face back to the book and essentially dismissing Tryggvi. His cold attitude did not cool down Tryggvi, however, and the five-year-old's face turned an ugly shade of violet.

"No! That's not true!" he growled, arms seeming to spasm violently as he narrowly avoided going medieval on the guy who dared to steal his girlfriend. Matthew, however, had lost his patience, and glared at Tryggvi, snapping, "Well, #$% off, you wanker!"

Tryggvi may not have realised the significance of Matthew's words, but Ariadne, who had been approaching once she saw the confrontation, did. And she was rather shocked to hear them coming of sweet, caring Matthew's mouth.

"Matthew!" Her accusing tone made Matthew jump, and he looked up in shock. "I don't what it means!" he defended prematurely, but it did not soften the severe look on Ariadne's face. She practically glared down at him, hands on her hips.

"Matthew Kirkland, we do not speak like that around here. You're going in the corner and I'm talking to your father when he gets here!" All eyes in the room were on Ariadne as she delivered Matthew's punishment, and Matthew's lower lip quivered violently.

"I didn't mean to! Arthur says it all the time, he doesn't mind!" Of course, Matthew knew very well it wasn't true. Arthur may have cursed frequently, which Francis always reprimanded him for, but he never approved of the boys copying his behavior. In fact, he'd washed Alfred's mouth out with soap once for cursing at him.

Ariadne said nothing, heaving Matthew up by his arm, and leading him towards the corner. When she seated him in it, she spoke again. "Matthew, I think you should think about what you've done. You've not only insulted Tryggvi, you've insulted yourself and your intelligence. Use nice words in an argument, and you'll you're not a baby."

And she turned and left, leaving a miserable Matthew in the corner. He sniffled, watching as Ariadne went to explain to the children not to repeat Matthew. Then he noticed a small figure disappear out the sliding door, which had apparently been left unlocked.

/AN/ Well, I had some fun with this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!


	10. Chapter 10

And here's the next chapter, I suppose! Btw, I think I may have decided to change my life goal from doing something involving history to being a dental hygienist. What do you think?

Oh, and what Ariadne was supposed to say in the last chapter was "and you'll prove you're not a baby." Sorry, sometimes I drop words. *shrugs nervously*

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Alfred held Raivis' soft baby hand in his, grinning triumphantly as he made his way into the yard. "This'll be really fun, you'll see. It's a good thing they didn't notice us leaving. Matthew's gonna get his mouth washed out with soap!" And Alfred was purely delighted with that. Matthew didn't get in trouble enough, in his opinion.

Raivis, however, was seeming a little less certain. He knew they weren't supposed to be outside, that it was a big no-no. He tugged on Alfred's arm, lips pursed in concern. "I don't want to be outside now. We have to be inside, or Ariadne will yell at us."

"No, relax- it'll be fine!" Alfred insisted, ignoring the smaller child's concerns. He was the smart one here, clearly, and his plan would be a lot more interesting. And, it would show Kiku how much more fun he would have if he hung around Alfred.

Because, of course, that was the main goal of his little quest. Showing off for Kiku. If he had been any older, he would have known that such actions frequently bring shame instead of popularity, but he was not older, and therefore did not know. He would simply have to learn that lesson himself.

Raivis' fears were soothed by the sight of the toys, and he ran over to the jungle gym. "Come play with me!" he demanded, grinning at their sneakiness, coming out here to play with toys when it wasn't time to be outside. However, Alfred had other plans, and he shook his head.

"No, we're not playing with those," he dismissed, and Raivis cocked his head to the side. "We're not?" There was nothing else to do out here, as far as Raivis was concerned. Unless Alfred wanted to pull up what little grass was there, of course.

"Exactly. We're going to sneak out. I have some money, we can go get a snack." It would be a little hike to the nearest corner store, but Alfred had deduced this was the best way to attract Kiku's attention. He would get a really cool snack, and then Kiku would want some, and he'd share, if he felt like it, and then they would be friends.

Raivis climbed down from the jungle gym slowly, plodding over to Alfred's side. "Okay, I like snacks a lot!" he chirped, grabbing Alfred's hand again. Alfred smiled, and walked craftily over to the gate. The lock on the gate may have been too high for four and five year olds, but it was no problem for a tall eight-year-old like Alfred. And popped open the gate easily, and he and Raivis went casually out of the yard.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Matthew watched sullenly as Heidi rekindled her friendship with Tryggvi. Apparently, Tryggvi was very quick to forgive his 'girlfriend' for 'cheating', and Heidi was quick to be taken back. Now, they were playing patty-cake, quite forgetting about Matthew for the time being.

Matthew wasn't entirely sure where he had gone wrong. Maybe he had overdone it with the cursing, but Tryggvi had been being annoying! Anyone would curse under those circumstances! It wasn't fair that he was the one sitting in the corner.

However, it seemed his time would soon be up. Ariadne approached, and she squatted down to his level. "Okay, Matthew, do you understand what you did wrong?"

He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of admitting that he was wrong. But his mouth betrayed him, and he mumbled, "I cursed at Tryggvi." He frowned as he said it, not at the fact that he was wrong, but rather at the bitter taste of giving in.

"And why was that wrong?" Ariadne prompted, giving him an encouraging look. Matthew stared down at the floor a few minutes, before finally giving in some more. "Because it's not nice. It's vulgar." Because, of course, the speech Arthur had given Alfred had involved a lot of words, vulgar being one of the most prominent.

"Good. You can go join the other children now." Ariadne said, standing up. She gave him a smile. "Keep it clean, okay?" Matthew nodded, getting off of the stool. He plodded over towards Heidi and Tryggvi, arms crossed over his chest.

The pair were giggling about who knew what, and Matthew only the end of what was apparently a joke. "Because the chicken wanted to get more chickens!" Tryggvi was very pleased with himself, Matthew could see. But, oh, that was going to change.

"Heidi, I'm back!" Matthew beamed at Heidi, expecting her to smile back. She, however, sighed melodramatically. "Matthew," she lisped, "I am playing with Tryggvi! He's my best friend!" Tryggvi smiled, and Matthew could detect some hint of vindictiveness.

Matthew's jaw dropped. "But, Heidi, don't you want to play with me?" His voice was much smaller than it had been before, the shock of Heidi not rejoicing at being reunited too great. Tryggvi practically sneered, revelling in the reversal of their fortunes. "No, now you can go away!"

Heidi shrugged, as though her choice to play with someone else was something she could not help. Tryggvi grabbed her hand, clenching it posessively. "We're going to play bears now," he informed Matthew, and the poor boy could only stare as the twosome departed.

How on earth had he fallen out of Heidi's favor so quickly? Was it because he had not known her that long, and Tryggvi had? Was it because he was older, and didn't always understand her humor? Maybe it was only a phase, he consoled himself. Maybe she would want to play again once she got tired of Tryggvi. And Tryggvi was annoying, so it could happen soon. Probably.

Ariadne was frowning, and counting the children. She reached a number, but it was not one she liked, so she immediately counted again. She reached over and tapped Nefertiti on the shoulder, whispering, "We're missing two kids. Alfred, and Raivis, I believe."

Nefertiti's face morphed into a serious mask. "I'll watch the children, you find them. Hurry!" And Ariadne gave the room one last look around, before heading for the sliding door. Once outside, she discovered the unlocked gate. "That little snot..." she murmured, marching out of the gateway. She hoped to high heaven that they were not on the road... the traffic conditions were not exactly forgiving in this part of town, and she did not want the children harmed.

Though they were going to wish they were anywhere else when she caught up with them...

/AN/ Man, I had to teach catechism class to a bunch of unruly kids, and suddenly the prospect of having kids myself is looking less cute and lovely. Huh.


	11. Chapter 11

This is the second to last chapter, peeps!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

Raivis' hand was warm in Alfred's, and as they walked along to the cornerstore, Alfred came to appreciate him more. He really was cute, and he had a major soft spot for cute things. Plus, it wasn't Raivis' mouth-hand that Alfred was holding, so that was a lot in Raivis' favor.

Alfred led the four year old towards the glass door of the small shop, hand sticky against the glass as he pushed it open. "We'll get cherry pies, I think," he informed Raivis, childish delight spread across his face. The door jingled as they walked in, and Raivis took in a sharp breath.

"Look at all the candy!" For candy there was, all in a glass display case, as well as a lollipop tree. Several other sweets were display in the case, such as cannolis, clothespins, and donuts, as well as small, pocket cherry pies, presumably the ones Alfred wanted.

"I know." Alfred was smug, as though he believed Raivis had doubted him somewhere along the way. Of course, the four-year-old had not, and looked at Alfred eagerly. "Can we get it all?" he asked, childishly greedy. Alfred bit his lip, more aware of what five dollars could buy than Raivis was.

"Well, we don't need everything, we just need cherry pies!" Alfred almost shouted enthusiasticly, causing a fe more looks his way. Yes, they were attracting more attention than they realised, being two small children alone in a store. The owner looked like he was debating making a phone call in his head.

Naturally, Alfred did not notice any of this, walking up confidently to the counter while Raivis, sucking furiously on his hand, practically hung off his arm. He slapped down the five dollar bill, grinning up at the owner. "I want two cherry pies, Mr. Duquesne."

For this was a place that Francis had taken them to, even if the pastries were not nearly on par with French cuisine. Mr. Duquesne took the money, despite looking suspicious of Alfred. He tried to sound casual. "So, Alfred, where's your father?"

"Oh, he's outside. Mr. Duquesne, this is Raivis. He's really little, so don't scare him, okay?" Alfred affectionately petted Raivis' head as he informed Mr. Duquesne of this, and Raivis, timid as an abused kitten, immediately looked down.

"Uh-huh. Well, why don't you ask him to step in a moment, just so I know he's there?" Mr. Duquesne was not going to budge on this one. Alfred's eyes widened fractionally, but he kept his cool, shaking his head. "Oh, we've got to go, my papa has to go somewhere."

"Well, maybe you'll stay a little longer? You can have a chocolate donut." This offer was more than enough to awaken the greedy little spirit inside of Alfred, and he nodded. "Okay. But just this one time, my papa won't mind at all."

As Mr. Duquesne handed them donuts, Alfred's mind turned to memories. Of Francis, of course, who both he and Matthew referred to as Papa. Arthur never liked them to refer to him as 'dad' or 'father' or anything of that sort, but Francis seemed to love it when they called him Papa. It made them feel like a family, to have a papa, an Arthur, and each other.

Now, with one piece missing, it felt as though it would never be the same. Francis would always mess with their hair, and cook, and give kisses and rub backs and just be Francis. Arthur could never do any of that, and it made Alfred resent him. Why had Francis had to go?

The bell on the door jingled, and Alfred paid it no mind- until Raivis gasped and hid behind him. Then he looked up at five feet six inches of angry Ariadne. "Alfred Kirkland! What were you thinking?" she snapped, immediately dropping down to his and Raivis' height and giving him a glare head on.

Alfred felt his lower lip tremble in fear. "W-well," he began, knowing full well how much trouble he was in, "u-um, we just... we were hungry, and... we... we just went to get a snack! Don't spank me!" Ariadne began to pat him all over, checking for injuries or ticks.

"Oh, if I could, buster, if I could..." she murmured, turning him around to make sure he was alright. Then she pulled Raivis closer, checking him over as well. "I am telling your parents, you understand?"

Raivis immediately began to cry. "Don't tell Daddy Ivan, he'll make me have a spanking!" Alfred's head hung low. He had really known, all along, that it was wrong to sneak out. He'd just expected to be back before she or Nefertiti noticed he was gone.

Mr. Duquesne spoke up then, clearing his throat. "Are you their babysitter, ma'am?" Ariadne's face melted from the severe frown to a charming smile. "I'm their daycare provider. Thank you for keeping them here." Mr. Duquesne gave a nod. "Just doing my duty, ma'am."

Ariadne took each of the children's hands, and, after reassuring Raivis that Ivan had never spanked him before, they headed out the door and into Ariadne's car. The drive home was entirely silent, like the calm before a storm. Alfred knew Arthur would not be happy with him, and that could translate to anything from a smack of the hand to being grounded for weeks.

As they arrived back at the daycare center, Alfred could see all the children pressed up against the window, chattering amongst themselves and staring at him and Raivis. It was as if they had changed to something mysterious and mythological simply by escaping. Ariadne turned off the car, and got out of her seat solemnly, opening up one of the back doors to get Raivis out of Heracles' car seat.

Alfred got out by himself, and puffed out his chest, trying to show the other children he was not afraid of trouble, though undoubtedly he was. Ariadne grabbed his shoulder and pulled him inside, muttering about how she'd known he would be trouble from the moment he attacked Xue.

"When your fathers get here, they're going to have words with you," she said ominously, as the other children clustered around Alfred and Raivis. Eduard immediately threw his arms around Raivis, rebuking him at the same time. "You should never go away without asking! You're gonna be in big trouble!"

"Al! Arthur's going to be so mad!" Matthew said, and it was hard to tell if he was delighted or concerned. Alfred decided he was concerned. "Well, sometimes you just gotta do things," he said importantly, puffing out his chest.

"Come on, everyone back in the play room," Nefertiti said, shepherding the children that way. Matthew could only shake his head in disbelief at Alfred's antics. It was as if Alfred never considered the consequences in his little adventures...

As soon as the excitement died down, Matthew seeked out Heidi and Tryggvi. A thought had occurred to him while he was inwardly complaining over Tryggvi's stealing of Heidi. This thought had surely been the answer to his prayers, and he was about ready to execute it.

"Heidi, why can't we all play together?" Matthew's question baffled Heidi, who had simply never thought of it that way. Play, all three of them at once? The thought had certainly never entered her mind, and it made her think. What was really stopping them from playing all together? Maybe, she could have both Tryggvi and Matthew.

"We can't do that," Tryggvi said with a laugh, as though the very idea were preposterous. Heidi, however, had made up her mind. "Tryggvi, we could all play together, just you and me and Matti. We could play with two princes!" Which, of course, was a sparkling realisation for Heidi.

Tryggvi made an about face, quickly agreeing with Heidi. "Okay, but I'm the better prince!" Matthew beamed. He had done it. He'd gotten Heidi to play with him again. Now all he needed to figure out was how to get out of being punished for cursing...

/AN/ Well, next chapter shall be when the parents arrive! I hope you've enjoyed this story so far, cause it's just about over!


	12. Chapter 12

Well, here it is, the last chapter! And, btw, a few days ago was my birthday. So I'm oh so old! And I got cool new sunglasses to wear for poker with the boys!

I don't own Hetalia! end /AN/

The kids were all gathered in the entrance room, waiting with their lunch packs for their parents- or else whatever they had most like parents. Most of the children did not come from typical families, not that it was considered unusual by the single mothers running the daycare.

Heracles and Gupta crowded around Kiku, who was flanked by his siblings, who were bouncing up and down with excitement. Kiku, of course, considered such behaviour to be mortifying, and kept trying to edge away. Alfred, however, was silently edging closer to the quiet eight year old, wanting to give it one last shot.

"Kiku..." he called, and Kiku's face twitched. Not Alfred again! Would he never learn that Kiku didn't care for his company? But Alfred's face was solemn and he hesitantly looked Kiku in the eye. "Kiku... I know you don't want to talk to me."

Kiku's eyebrows lifted in shock. He'd never thought that Alfred had noticed, and suddenly felt guilty. "No, that's not true," he fibbed, voice quiet with embarassment at being found out. Alfred shook his head, biting his lip for a second. "No, I know you don't like me. But, listen to me: Just give me a chance, and we can be good friends."

"I..." Kiku was at a loss for words. He hated it when people were this direct. What was he supposed to do when those big blue eyes were looking at him so full of hope and pleading? He felt his mouth moving, and realised only belatedly what he was saying. "I guess we can try it."

Alfred beamed, and nearly threw his arms around Kiku, only remembering just in time that most people were averse to hugs from other people who were practically strangers. For, of course, he realised now that it would take a little while for things to click with Kiku. He instead put his hands on Kiku's shoulders.

"You can come over to my house, and we'll watch Transformers!" At Alfred's exclamation, Kiku's eyes lit up like sparks. "I love Transformers!"

"Me too! Bumblebee is my favorite!" Alfred gushed, hands spread expressively wide. Kiku was shocked that Alfred, a person who had been so annoying, could suddenly be so likable. "I love Bumblebee too! And Optimus Prime!"

Kiku was smiling, and Alfred seemed to be utterly overjoyed. "We can watch a bunch of the episodes, and eat fruit snacks!" It was strange how quickly Kiku had been won over, by the mention of a certain show, but Alfred chose not to dwell on it. He was too happy with the way things had turned out, and he could not wait to ask Arthur.

Matthew held hands with Heidi, smiling at her sweetly. He was so glad to have won over her affections again, and he could not wait to come back tomorrow. Tryggvi held Heidi's other hand, but he was not glaring jealously at Matthew anymore. In fact, there were a few things Matthew had discovered about Tryggvi.

One, was that Tryggvi liked to kiss people. Not that Matthew had been kissed, of course, it was just that Tryggvi was very liberal with his kisses on Heidi's cheeks. She would lean away and giggle each time, but it never deterred him. Another thing about Tryggvi: he made a delightful co-prince, more interested in the fighting of monsters than the rescuing of the princess. Which, of course, left Matthew to sweep Heidi off her feet.

And the last thing: Tryggvi was in adoration of his older brother. It seemed not a moment went by that he didn't mention that his older brother said to say this, or to do that. His name was Aksel, and he was apparently significantly older than Tryggvi. Apparently, no one was a better being than Tryggvi's 'Oniichan.' Which, of course, Matthew felt was not true; Francis was definitely the best person in the world.

But now, here they were, waiting to be picked up by their respective parent-type figures. Tryggvi beamed at Matthew, swinging Heidi's hand back and forth. "You can meet my Oniichan, when he comes to pick me up! He's so cool!"

And of course, Matthew smiled back at Tryggvi. "And you can meet Arthur! He's... got a really cool accent!" It was a little painful, but he could think of nothing better to say about Arthur. It wasn't that Arthur was a bad person, it was just... He was affectionate, that much was true, but he was weird about it. And no matter how you looked at it, Arthur wasn't cool. He couldn't dance, he never let them stay up late, and he never played games.

It wasn't that he didn't love Arthur, of course. It was simply that he had always been closer to Francis, his papa. He felt bad without Francis around to kiss him after school, and hold him close while they watched a movie. He missed helping him in the kitchen, getting covered in flour and taste-testing everything. Arthur couldn't cook, and dinners were now a far cry from their previous state. And now, Arthur never seemed to smile. Matthew missed Francis, but he missed seeing Arthur happy just as much.

The screen door swung open, and in came an Asian man with a ponytail. There was a scream of 'Daddy!' from Xue, Hong and Yong Soo, and he grinned in return, kneeling down and spreading his arms open wide. The three ran into his arms, eager to hug and be hugged. Kiku hung back, stiffly greeting the man. "Hello Yao."

Yao's face wrinkled in distaste. "Kiku," he sighed, "I told you, call me Dad. We're a family now." Kiku shook his head, pursing his lips in stubbornness. Yao sighed, knowing how Kiku could be when he decided on something. He turned his attention back to the other children. "Were you all good today?"

"Yes!" they screamed, still remaining as close as possible to Yao. Kiku cleared his throat. "Yong Soo got in a fight." Yao's eyes turned onto Yong Soo, whose face had quickly turned away. "Yong Soo... what have we talked about? You're not supposed to hurt people!"

"Well... He started it." Yong Soo said, still not daring to meet his father's eyes. Yao clucked at him, gently buffeting him on the side of the head. "You do not fight people! When are you ever going to learn?"

A large shadow was cast across the doorway, and Raivis screamed, hiding behind Eduard. "No, not Daddy-Ivan!" The man known as 'Daddy-Ivan' grimaced at the greeting, and the boy next to him blanched. "Raivis, that's not nice to say!" he said, wringing his hands at the four-year-old's rather hurtful exclamation.

Eduard adjusted his glasses, saying rather bluntly, "He escaped from the daycare, and he thinks you're going to spank him." Raivis whimpered, clutching the back of Eduard's shirt like a lifeline. Toris, for that was the elder brother's name, scurried forward, already reprimanding. "Raivis! What were you thinking? You can't just walk right out of the daycare! You could have been seriously hurt! Are you alright?"

Toris was patting down Raivis, checking him over for any sign of injury, when 'Daddy-Ivan' spoke up. "You do not leave daycare. Da?" He pointed a large finger at Raivis severely, and Raivis sniffled and nodded, lower lip trembling violently. Then 'Daddy-Ivan' held out his arms, crouching down. Raivis hesitantly went over, standing within the arms of 'Daddy-Ivan', and he was lifted up by the same.

"You be good next time, da?" Ivan said more softly, and Raivis nodded, then leant against Ivan like he was a big comfortable teddy bear. Toris heaved a sigh, glad that this had blown over. Eduard, of course, had known it would, as he'd noticed that never once had Ivan ever been violent or harsh with them, even when they needed it.

"Let's go now." Ivan said, still carrying Raivis, gesturing to the two others with his free arm. Toris and Eduard followed, with Toris calling goodbyes over his shoulder for Ariadne and Nefertiti. Then they disappeared into Ivan's white van.

An aristocratic man, accompanied by a woman with long brown hair, showed up to pick up Feliciano, which surprised Alfred. Weren't Lovino and Feli twins? If that was true, why were they being split up? He shuddered, unable to fathom the horror of being split up from Matthew.

"Lovi! Come on, it's time to go home!" A tanned man had walked in through the door, winking at Ariadne on his way. "Freaking idiot," Lovino responded, but he followed the man out the door, as Ariadne called goodbye to 'Antonio.'

The door swung open shortly after it shut, and a boy who looked amazingly similiar to Heidi walked in, bookbag slung over his shoulder. "Mom's waiting in the car, Heidi! It's time to go!" Heid squeaked with delight, letting go of Matthew's hand and running over to embrace the boy around the thighs. "Vash! I met a new friend today!"

He ruffled her hair affectionately, smiling just a little, as though it were something he tried to refrain from doing. "That's great, Heidi. But we got to go, Mom's waiting." His voice was soft, not nearly as harsh as when he first walked in, and Matthew realised he must be the older brother that Heidi had been talking about and comparing him to.

"Alright, but first I have to say b'bye!" And she let go of Vash, running back to Matthew and Tryggvi, each of whom she kissed on the cheek. The look on Vash's face was priceless, as he practically glared at the kissees. "Time to go."

And Heidi and he left, but not without much waving from Heidi, and murmuring about 'already kissing boys' from Vash. Matthew felt his cheek with happiness, very pleased at recieving a kiss from Heidi. He hoped he would get another kiss tomorrow.

Then Arthur showed up through the doorway, and Matthew practically jumped up and down, before he remembered he was not glad to see him. Alfred, on the other hand, immediately ran up to Arthur, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to meet Yao.

"This is Yao, and he's Kiku's dad! Can Kiku come over? Oh please? Please please please-" Arthur cut him off with irritation. "Well, give me a second to think, Alfred!"

Yao smiled warmly at Arthur. "I think it's great that our children have become friends. How about you all come over for dinner?" Arthur was a little surprised at the directness, but Alfred was certainly not at a loss for words. "Can I bring Transformers?"

Laughing, Yao nodded. "Of course. What would the evening be like without watching Transformers?" Arthur quickly found his tongue, trying to dissuade the Asian man. "Oh, I don't know, my boys might make a big mess..."

"I can deal with messes; I have four children." Yao assured him, and Yong Soo piped up, "Yeah, we make big messes! You can come over to our house and make as big a mess as you want!" Arthur couldn't help but sigh in defeat, not really wanting to cook dinner himself anyway.

"Alright. What time do you want us over?" Alfred cheered, hugging Kiku from behind and lifting him off the ground. The three other children also celebrated, waving their arms around and yelling, except for Hong. Yao smiled, picking up Xue and placing her on his hip. "Five sounds good. If you could bring a dessert..."

"Of course, no problem. See you then," Arthur said, grabbing Alfred's hand. Yao nodded, giving directions to Arthur and then herding his children out the door. Kiku stopped only to make certain he said a full goodbye to Alfred, and then they were gone.

"Well, we'd better stop by the bakery. Come on, Matthew, it's time to go." Matthew eagerly grabbed Arthur's other hand, smiling at him. He didn't really like being mad at Arthur, even though he still missed Francis. Alfred's mind was full of how much fun he would have this night, and Arthur could only smile to himself. Maybe their family would heal, after all.

/AN/ And that's the end! Whew, I don't know if I've ever written a chapter so long before! I hope you've enjoyed this story! I know I have! If you have any ideas for a new story to start, don't be shy!


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